Shannen Sigman
Reflection Paper
As an Asian American born in and adopted from China, traveling back to the country has
always been a desire of mine. The China Retail Study Tour trip not only allowed me the
opportunity to visit my home country, but also allowed me to gain valuable contacts and learn
about the operations of domestic and international companies. My three-week China experience
through the University of Florida’s Retail Study Tour is definitely unforgettable in both positive
aspects and ones that I am not as enthusiastic about, but as a whole is momentous.
My favorite city throughout all six that we traveled to would have to be Hong Kong. It
was our first stop on our tour, and despite the rain and humidity, it was easily the best in my
opinion. Noah, Austin, and I spent two days before the Study Tour in Tokyo, Japan where we
walked around the city exploring and doing whatever we wanted too essentially. Arriving in
Hong Kong on Friday afternoon and having essentially an entire weekend to explore like we did
in Tokyo really helped amplify the Hong Kong experience, and I believe is a major factor as to
why I enjoyed this city the most. I experienced my first Red Bull Flugtag competition on Hong
Kong Island, and also got to ride a roller coaster that was built on the side of a mountain at
Ocean Park. In addition, I enjoyed how walking as a means of transportation was completely
possible and easy to do; compared to cities like Beijing where a car or subway was the go to
method because of how far away things were located. My favorite company visit also occurred in
Hong Kong at DFS Group Limited. I enjoyed DFS the most because the presentation was
focused on merchandising and marketing techniques the company uses to decide the type of
products to purchase, the quantity to purchase for each store, and advertising methods to get
customers into their stores. Umbra was also a fascinating company visit that we visited in the
city because the products they make can be bought in stores like Walmart and Target in the
United States. We also got to tour an Umbra factory and saw how various products were made,
packaged, and stored before transportation as well as products going through their testing phase.
Other interesting company visits we had were the Olympic Management Center in
Beijing. This was really neat because I had never been to a past Olympic stadium location
before. It was fascinating to see the infrastructure I had only previously witnessed on television
now in person, and to be able to stand in locations where Olympians had stood years before.
Touring the Hyundai Beijing factory plant at the end of our trip was also eye opening. Even
though I don’t plan on working in a factory or with a company dealing with automobiles, it was
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fascinating to see the entire process of how the cars are assembled, and the amount of separate
steps that are required. In this visit, I was surprised to learn that the factory operates 24 hours
long with two shifts; one 8 am – 5 pm and the other 5 pm to 8 am. Another memorable factory
visit was with Baosteel. I had never seen a steel factory before, and I was surprised at how hot
the steel is when being made. We were all standing a good distance away and it still felt like we
could have been less than an inch away with the amount of heat that I felt radiating from it.
Overall the food experience in Asia was a slight shock. I didn’t expect typical foods
served for lunch and dinner in America to also be served for breakfast in both Japan and China.
In some hotels like Chimelong, there was hardly any selection of Western breakfast foods such
as scrambled eggs, cereal, and hash browns with an array of dim sum, fried rice, salad, and other
traditional Chinese dishes instead. Another challenge I found was being pescatarian; especially
during the group meals. Most of the dishes no one really knew what they contained to begin
with, so even if I did eat meat, I think my diet would have remained around the same. Even
ordering at Pizza Hut was a challenge because getting pizza with just cheese on it seemed
basically unheard of. When Alex, Jasmine, Kevin, Bill and I went on a separate occasion before
the group lunch, we even had Bill try to order a plain cheese pizza in Chinese, and the waiter did
not understand. Fast food chains such as KFC and McDonalds were also a slightly different
experience in China. KFC, for example, served shrimp and their portion sizes were probably
comparable in size to the kid’s meal sizes in the United States or even smaller in some instances.
McDonalds also had separate café’s in some locations where their layout and dessert section was
comparable to a Starbucks. For several of the group meals we also had food that wasn’t Chinese
such as Italian, Greek, and Indian. Being in China and eating food from these different places
seemed weird for some reason, but when thought about, it is just like being in America and
ordering from an Italian, Greek, or Indian restaurant. The Greek restaurant in particular was
notable because while there, I felt like I wasn’t in China anymore with the atmosphere inside.
Regarding cultural visits, we did a majority of them in Beijing such as going to The Great
Wall, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and the Temple of Heaven. It was really neat to be
able to visit these well known places that previously had only been mentioned in books, seen in
pictures or on television and movies. The Great Wall also surprised me by standing on it and
seeing how vast it really was all while knowing that people built it without the use of machines
so long ago. The Forbidden City was also captivating because of its intricacies; it almost felt like
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it was never ending. In Guangzhou, we visited the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and the Canton
Tower. The Canton Tower, formerly known as the Guangzhou TV Tower, had breathtaking
views of the city from 108 floors above the ground. The group of us who went on our free day
(Bill, Kevin, Alex, Jasmine, and I) stood on the all glass-enclosed ledge. It was slightly
intimidating standing so high above ground and being able to see it all below your feet, but the
incredible view quickly cancelled out all thoughts of stepping away. We then ventured higher up
the tower onto the top deck portion, which was 112 stories above ground. Here we took more
pictures and relished in the amazing view. All in all, I wish we had more time to do more cultural
visits in the cities we visited because for some like Shenzhen, all I remember about them is the
companies we visited.
I believe this trip served as an important stepping stone for my future because not only
did I made important contacts, but I was also able to learn more about business in China.
Throughout several company visits, the importance of China’s growing economy was
emphasized as to why businesses are so eager to gain a strong foothold in the country with the
second and third tier cities quickly gaining more disposable income. I was amazed to see how
prevalent high-end retailers such as Rolex, Burberry, and Channel were throughout all the cities
we visited; seeing a high-end retailer location in China is comparable to seeing Starbuck’s
locations on almost every corner in some major cities. In addition, I found it interesting to learn
how companies are looking towards other countries such as Africa and Vietnam for low cost
labor because China’s labor costs are no longer regarded as low. This demonstrates how the
country has changed over the past few years since China used to be regarded as the go to location
for cheap labor. When reflecting on my own personal career goals, I hope to eventually be
involved in the international business aspect of whatever company I work for, and therefore I
believe I will always be able to draw on experiences from this trip regardless of the situation.
More specifically, my international interests lean towards Asia, so I view the Retail Study Tour
as my introduction into the country’s business practices, cultural, and overall experience with the
country. My three-week involvement in China has further spurred my interest to familiarize
myself with mandarin Chinese, and to eventually become fluent in the language; knowing
Chinese will only serve to aid me in my future business endeavors. Another interesting aspect I
noticed mostly during the company visits, was that despite Hong Kong technically being a part
of China, people in both mainland and Hong Kong regarded themselves as separate from one
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another. I believe this will be an essentially consideration to keep in mind when doing future
business with the country because it is important not to offend people by regarding the different
locations as the same.
Another beneficial life experience the trip provided was being able to interact with people
I wouldn’t normally get to meet. Within our group of thirteen, our ages ranged from one who had
just graduated all the way to two people who had just completed their freshman year of college.
We also had people involved in all different types of extracurricular activities such as social
sororities and fraternities, culturally specific clubs, and academic clubs. Even though we met
twice a week for six weeks prior to our trip, we were able to bond so much more on our trip than
we ever did in class. On the last day of the tour when everyone was flying out to go back home,
and my flight was one of the last in our group so I had basically all day to relax before leaving.
My roommate’s flight on the other hand was one of the first ones so we didn’t even get to say
goodbye right before she left. I remember sitting in my hotel room thinking how weird it was
that my roommate wasn’t there and missing her, and the other people from the trip that I had
gotten to know. I was surprised at how close I had become with the people I went on this trip
with, and how a month prior, they were still strangers to me. Ultimately, I believe I made
valuable friendships from this trip that I might not have made otherwise.
As a whole, the China Retail Study Tour was a great experience where I got to
experience multiple aspects of the country. I was able to learn about companies I was already
familiar with and those I had only heard about from our in class presentations, as well as meet
with the executives of these companies. Not only did the opportunity allow me gain a better
grasp of what the business environment is like in China, but it also granted me the opportunity to
network with these important people and it further motivated me to become more knowledgeable
in all aspects of the country. While on the business visits, I was also able to experience the
cuisine from various cities throughout China during our company lunches and group dinners.
Despite not being able to partake in many of the dishes, it was still a memorable experience and I
was able to try several things I was unfamiliar with. Finally, I really enjoyed the cultural visits
and being able to see the historical aspect of the country. Overall, I hope to visit again sometime
in order to see Yangzhou – the city of my birth, and in a business setting during my future career
path.